Shade of Red
by BabsGordon95
Summary: Ronnie had been the protector Redwing for five years. So much has changed for her: She works side by side with the Birds of Prey, her relationship with her mother is strained, among other disasters. It started to fall apart after "the event." With life's confusions in the way, can Ronnie find out how is threatening her family while keeping her sanity together at the same time?
1. My Life Now

**AN: Here we are again. This story has been in my head since the middle of Part 2 and finally getting it on paper (or word document, I guess) is such a joy! I hope this story keeps you on your toes! Enjoy, comment, and review! I love feedback!**

Just another day at the office, except my office happens to be the streets of Gotham.

I've taken a lot of hits these past five years, both physically and emotionally, so it's nice that my "job" gives my pent up aggression an out. Tonight's punching bag happens to be your average mugger. It reminds me of the first time I saved an innocent citizen. It was kind of an accident, but she needed my help just like this woman needs my help.

This current creep, tall and semi-pudgy with greasy black hair, was smirking at me with a long knife in his hand. The woman is crouching down, pushing herself into the corner made by the dumpster and the disgusting brick wall. Considering she's in a very nice business suit, I know she'll be regretting that later.

The creep lunges at me with his knife-wielding arm outstretched. I shake my head. They never learn.

I hook my right arm around his elbow and pull as I kick my left foot into his stomach. When he's down I move my hand to his wrist and twist. He cries out in pain so I put the poor guy out of his misery. Quick knock to the back of the head and he's out cold. It's kind of become my signature thing.

I walk over to the woman, taking a can of pepper spray out of my pocket. I toss it to her after she stands up.

"Take it," I tell her. "One quick spray to the eyes and a kick to the groin will usually give you enough time to get away. The local sports store is giving self-defense lessons for women using pepper spray on Saturday's for about sixty bucks. It's pretty helpful."

"Th-thank you," she stammers before she runs off.

I cuff the mugger to a pipe with a zip-tie before walking to my motorcycle a few feet away. I pick up my coat and pull it on.

My uniform hasn't really changed much. Instead of a low ponytail braid, I've let my layered hair run free with straight bangs across the front. I still wear the same black boots, pants, thigh holsters and sleeveless body armor with the red bat across the chest. The additions include a red leather vest that buttons right under my breasts and a matching tailcoat that reaches my ankles and has a hood that comes in handy.

Before I straddle my black Aprilia rsv4, I put my finger up to my ear to adjust the radio earpiece.

"Redwing to Black Canary, I need you to do me a favor and inform the Gotham PD that there's a perp currently cuffed to a drain on the corner of Kane and Infatino."

"_It's been sent_," Dinah replies. "_Looks like you'll make it right on time. Early even._"

"Yeah, like he ever is," I mumble.

"_At least he's stopped giving excuses_," Dinah offers.

"Only because I threatened to shoot him if he lied about why he was late ever again." Shadows move in the corner of my eye. My senses heighten and I hardly notice when Dinah speaks.

"_Hello, earth to Redwing_."

My eyes still searching the dark I ask, "Sorry, what was that?"

"_I said that your mother is calling_."

"Ignore it." Four men step out of the shadows. I murmur, "Just my night."

"_I ignored it_," Dinah says, "_but that was call number two_."

I groan. "I can already guess what she's calling for."

One of the thugs grins. "Little birdy got caught in the wrong nest."

I roll my eyes, get off my bike, and motion for them to come at me. Two of them lunge. I dodge one and throw the other into a wall.

"_Your mother's calling again_," Dinah informs me.

"Kinda busy here, Canary," I say through clenched teeth as I avoid a punch to the face. I've successfully subdued one thug, but the other two have joined in.

"_Maybe something happened to your brother_?"

This statement dazes me and my reward is a swing to the stomach. Carson's in deep undercover in one of the drug rings. If something happened–

"Fine, put her through," I huff out. Dinah puts the line through to me. "Hello?"

"_Oh, finally you pick up_!" Mom complains. She sounds too irritated for something to have happened to Carson. I'm already regretting taking this call.

"Sorry," I say, annoyed as I send a kick into thug number three's jaw. "I'm in the middle of something right now."

I throw another punch, evade another kick.

"_Are you at your kickboxing class_?" Mom asks.

Kickboxing class. Another example of how in the dark my mother still is. I needed an excuse when the cuts and bruises started showing up and Tim had suggested kickboxing classes. Who knew she'd believe it for this long?

"Yes, Mom, I am," I grumble.

"_Will you be done in fifteen minutes_?" Oh, no. Here it comes. "_Do you need me to pick up Jensen_?"

"No, Mom," I say, trying to keep my cool. "I'll be done in five minutes," insert kick and there's only one creep left.

"_Are you sure, honey? It wouldn't be a problem for me to pick him up_."

I catch the last thugs punch, twist his wrist (probably breaking a few carpals in the process), and knee him under his jaw. All done.

"Mom," I say, trying to put some authority in my voice, "let me make this clear: Jensen is _my _son. Not to mention I am twenty-two years old. I can pick up Jensen on my own. I don't need you griping me about it every single time."

There's a long pause. I know I hurt her feelings, but sometimes she still treats me like I'm a teenager. I needed to be honest and try to make her understand.

"_Okay, Ronnie_," Mom says thickly. "_I'll see you later this week_." _Click_.

"_That was a little harsh_," Dinah acknowledges.

I sigh. "I know. The thing is, I asked her to pick up Jensen once and let him stay at her apartment for a few days. It was that time when I went undercover, remember? Then she wanted him over all the time and at first I couldn't say no, so I hardly got to spend time with Jensen by myself. She always wants to go pick him up for me. Sometimes I think she forgets that Jensen is my son and not hers."

Dinah's quiet. That's kind of the best thing about Dinah: she knows when someone just needs to vent and doesn't want advice.

Finally, after a short pause, she says, "_So, I'll see you in half an hour-ish_?"

"Hopefully less than that," I mutter.

"_Don't kill anyone_," Dinah teases as I straddle my bike once more.

"No promises," I answer. The engine roars and I take off, speeding the whole way so I can change my clothes and switch to my more "kid friendly" car, the acura TSX, a twenty-first birthday gift from Bruce. Jensen had picked it out because it was "the best shade of red."


	2. Every Other Weekend

_Knock, knock, knock, knock._

Alfred opens the door to Wayne Manor, his warm smile expecting me. He is the number one thing I've missed about this place.

"Miss Reid, you know you don't have to knock," Alfred reminds me. "You are always welcome to come in on your own."

I return his smile and step inside. With my hand on his shoulder, I tease, "Not getting lazy on me, are you, Alfred?"

"Mommy!" Jensen comes running down the grand staircase. I crouch down with open arms and Jensen slams into my hug. With Jensen still in my arms, I stand up. "I've missed you, Mommy," Jensen exclaims.

I plant a kiss on his cheek, "I've missed you, too." I kiss his forehead and notice that he's a tad warm. "Oh, you're a little warm, sweetheart."

"He was sick on Saturday."

I take a deep breath. I hadn't noticed Jason walk into the front hall. I turn to Jensen.

"Did Daddy give you medicine and keep you in bed?"

Instead of answering me, Jensen squeals, "Alfie read me my sick book!" Jensen didn't like the name "Alfred," saying it was too old, so he called him "Alfie" instead. Normally I would giggle at that, but not now.

"Why did _Alfred_ read you the book?" I ask for any one of them to answer.

"Because Crowbar went out," Damian answers after he drops from the first story banister.

Damian was a bit of a shock when he showed up, but we all welcomed him with open arms. He's a little reckless and ornery, but he's gotten better. My only concern is Jensen will want to replicate the eleven-year-old's crazy stunts.

I look at Jason. "What does he mean you 'went out'?"

"Look," Jason says, working up his defense, "just trust me when I say it was important."

"Was Roy dying?" I ask. I put Jensen down since he was squirming in my arms. He gets that way when we get started.

"Well… no."

I scoff. "Same old Jason. Says one thing and then does another."

Jason looks hurt. "Hey, now! Look–"

"No, you look!" I yell. "You once said that you wanted to be the kind of father that Bruce was to you, including staying in when Jensen was sick. We both made the deal that we would stay in whenever he's hurt or ill. Dinah has needed me plenty of times, but she understood that I had to stay with our son. I would appreciate it if you would extend me the same courtesy." I pick Jensen back up and Alfred, his smile now absent from his face, hands me Jensen's duffle bag. "Thank you, Alfred."

Without another word, I get Jensen to the car.

As I'm buckling Jensen into his car seat, Jensen states, "I don't like it when you and Daddy fight."

It always amazes me how advanced Jensen's language and other motor skills are, especially since he still has the attitude and mentality of a five-year-old.

"I know, baby. We don't mean to, there's just a lot of tension that we can't get rid of." I give him a kiss on top of his black curls and shut the door.

"I'm sorry, Ronnie," Jason says. I should have known he would follow me out here. For once his apology seems entirely sincere.

"I'm sorry, too, Jason." I lean against the car. "I don't mean to explode, it's just I wish for once you would keep your word. At least when it comes to our son, since–" I cut myself off. There's more I want to say, but too many curious ears are waiting in the car. So instead, I say, "I need to get Jensen to bed. Tell Bruce I said 'hello'."

"Ronnie–" Jason grabs my hand.

I shake my head and pull out of his grip, making my way to the driver's seat. A touch of fire still burns where his fingers had met mine.

()*()*()*()*()

"Good night, Mommy," Jensen calls to me when I reach the doorway.

"Good night, Jensen." I flick off his light and close his door, keeping it open just a crack. To myself in the hallway, I murmur, "It's a good night for a glass of wine."

When I reach the kitchen I find Dinah has already beaten me to the punch, waiting at the table with two glasses of wine in front of her.

"I figured you could use a drink since you and Jason had another fight." Dinah slides one of the glasses in my direction. I raise an eyebrow. "I could tell the second you walked in. You had that look on your face where you're trying to smile, but fail miserably."

I sit down, take a sip, and run my index finger around the rim.

"I hate it, Dinah," I finally say. "Every time I see him I just want to punch him in the face, he makes me so mad. But when he's not around, I miss him, Dinah. After everything that has happened, I still miss him. I still need him."

Dinah places her hand over my clenched fist. "Why don't you tell him this?"

"Because I still can't forgive him," I choke out. "After– after you-know-what happened, things when downhill. I tried to make things better, but he went out and– gosh, I can't even say it."

"People do things that are hard to forgive." Dinah gives me a smile, but I can't return it. "It's hard work, but you can always fight your way back uphill."

I stand up without finishing the wine. "It doesn't matter, Dinah. He's over me, that's where we are. So the closest we'll ever be again is when I pick up Jensen every other weekend."

"Ronnie," Dinah says, "he stopped seeing her."

I stop in the doorway. "What?"

"He's not seeing her anymore. He's not seeing anyone. He's just as lonely as you."


	3. Old Friend

"Bam! Bam!" Jensen giggles as he shoots his gun.

He hits me right in the stomach with a Nerf dart. I pretend to be in pain and fall down to my knees.

"Oh, no. You got me." I drop to my stomach. Faking a cough, I say in a hoarse voice, "Come closer." He does with his Nerf gun still in a ready-to-fire position. "I have to tell you something."

"What?" he asks.

I whisper, "I have a partner."

Jensen cocks his head to the side like a puppy. "Huh?"

Suddenly, Dinah pops up from behind the couch and shoots five or six darts, all hitting Jensen in the back.

"Aunt Dinah!" he squeals. I toss my own Nerf gun aside and pounce on Jensen, tickling him ferociously. "No, no, no, stop," he giggles. I kiss him all over his face. "Stop!"

Dinah fires off a few more darts, hitting both me and Jensen.

"Now that's cheating," I chuckle. Then the doorbell rings. To Jensen I suggest, "Why don't you and Aunt Dinah go to the kitchen and get a snack?"

Jensen nods and takes Dinah by the hand and leads her to the kitchen. I get and straighten myself up. A wonderful surprise is waiting behind the clock tower's front door.

"Tim!" I throw myself into his arms. When I pull away I ask, "What are you doing here?"

Tim shrugs, "The Titans are able to survive a little while without me."

I smile. Tim has really grown since a discarded the Robin persona two years ago. Though he's now Red Robin and leader of the Teen Titans, I still can't believe he's not the baby-faced kid who's been my best friend though all my ordeals.

"How have you been?" I ask.

"Things have been good," Tim says. "Well, up and down. Last week–"

"Uncle Tim!" Jensen comes running into the front hall, chocolate pudding smeared all around his mouth. Dinah comes in after him.

Jensen jumps up into Tim's embrace and I step over to Dinah.

"When I said 'snack,' I meant something healthy, like an apple or celery sticks with peanut butter," I tell her.

"Sorry," she laughs, "I really wanted pudding myself."

"Hey," Tim says to Jensen, "why don't you, your mom, and I go to the zoo today?"

"Yeah!" Jensen yells happily.

Tim looks over at Dinah like he had just realized that she was here. "Of course, you're welcome to come to, Dinah."

Dinah smirks and throws me a look. "That's okay, Tim. I don't want to crowd you and, besides, I already have plans." Dinah locks eyes with me and they seem to be conveying a message, but I can't interpret it.

I tilt my head, asking for an explanation, but Dinah just smirks again and exits the hall.

()*()*()*()*()

"You know, I was trying _not_ to make Jensen spoiled," I complain to Tim, "but you had to buy that backpack." Jensen had begged and pleaded with me to get the backpack, but I had told him that I didn't have the money for it.

That was a lie, of course. Bruce had given me a trust fund so I had more than enough money. I just don't like to spend the money on non-essentials. I only buy things like the backpack on special occasions. But as soon as I turned my back, Tim bought Jensen what he wanted. I should have expected it. I swear up and down that Jensen has charming abilities that only I am immune to. It must be a mom thing that goes away once you hit grandmother level.

Jensen runs ahead of us on the trail up to the golden monkeys' cage.

"Not too far ahead of us, honey!" I yell after him. He only slows down a tad, his brand new backpack in the shape of a bat's face bobs up and down.

"Still protective of him, huh?" Tim points out.

I bite my bottom lip. "He was kidnapped when he was a few weeks old. Can you blame me?"

"I guess not," Tim shrugs.

When we make our way over to the nocturnal area of the rain forest, Tim brings up 'the subject'.

"So, you gonna be living with Dinah much longer?"

I groan, "Jeez, Tim."

"What?" he asks innocently.

"Is this really the place to have this conversation?"

Tim gives me his puppy dog look that somehow still works for his 21-year-old face.

"I have permanently moved in with Dinah," I inform him.

"So the divorce is final?" Tim digs further.

I shake my head. "Legally separated. I keep meaning to file the papers, but Dinah keeps me busy. I think she does it to stall me because we both know that Jason will never file. Dinah, the girl who will always have a glimmer of hope."

"Maybe you two could still work it out," Tim says.

I laugh disgustedly, "Jason doesn't really show any interest in reconciliation." Suddenly, my mind thinks of last night when Jensen had grabbed my hand. I shake the image out of my head. I start gnawing on the inside of my cheek.

I'm walking aimlessly until Tim stops me by placing his hand on mine that is down by my hip.

"Ronnie, what's wrong?" He keeps my gaze.

I flinch. "Tim, I–"

"My mommy is a bat," I hear Jensen tell another kid. "She's the best bat: Redwing. She fights bad guys."

I run over to Jensen. To the other kid's mother, I say, "Kids' imaginations, huh? Tell them that you put bad guys away by being an attorney and they automatically think 'superhero'." The mother smiles and nods and then takes her child away. I bend down to look at Jensen. "Sweetie," I whisper, "do you remember our rule about Mommy's job?"

Jensen nods. "Not to tell anybody. I'm sorry, Mommy. I was excited about the bats."

I pull him into a hug, "It's okay."

Tim joins us, crouching down and placing his hand on Jensen's shoulder.

"I think we've tortured the animals long enough. Why don't we go get some ice cream?"

Jensen bounces up and down in excitement.

I narrow my eyes at Tim. "Spoiler."


	4. That Night

There is a slight breeze in the air tonight. It plays with my hair making me chuckle quietly. I take a deep breath through my nose. It smells like the city – like my city.

It had taken forever to get Jensen to wind down and settle for bed. Finally, Tim volunteered to read Jensen a bedtime story and he immediately jump between the covers. I took that opportunity to sneak out here in front of the giant clock of the tower. I watch the sun set on the horizon with beautiful purples and orange.

"Convenient to live in the headquarters of the 'Birds of Prey'," Tim teases behind me.

"Dinah volunteered the space when I moved out of the manor," I explained. "And it makes for a quick change into my uniform."

"I noticed some of the changes to your uniform last night."

I look over at Tim with confusion. "You saw me last night?"

"Yeah," Tim nods. "You're getting better at taking on multiple attackers."

My confused look turns into an angry one and I punch Tim in the jaw.

"Ow!" Tim cries. "Sheesh, what was that for?" He's being such a baby; I hardly put any force behind that punch.

"I was ambushed by four creeps and you didn't think to maybe drop in and help?" I ask.

"You were already done when I had shown up," Tim defends. "You looked mad so I wasn't going to take a chance that you'd rip my head off."

I sigh and take a seat on the stone edge. "I had just gotten off the phone with my mom."

A surprised look comes across Tim's face and he whistles a low whistle as he sits down next to me. "Since when do you and your mom have issues?"

"Since I moved out of the manor," I answer. "She's disappointed in me."

"Why would you think that?"

"My marriage failed," I guess. "And my mom has always been against divorce. She thinks that two people in a marriage can – and should – work through every issue and divorce is just taking the easy way out."

Tim scrunches his eyebrows. "She doesn't see cheating as a good excuse?"

I flinch. "She doesn't know about that. I kinda ran to Dinah and Barbara the night I found out. I guess I just needed someone to say they were going to kill Jason to comfort me." I let out a short laugh.

"What happened, Ronnie?" Tim asks. "What happened that led to all of this?"

I avoid his gaze. So many things happened that led us to where we are now. Thinking about it hurts. I can't imagine the pain that would come if I say it out loud.

I shake my head, "I'm not ready to talk about it."

"Okay," Tim nods, "then just tell me about that night."

I take a deep breath. "Jason and I had been rocky for a while now. I had a… an inkling that Jason was doing something he shouldn't be, but I was in denial about what it was exactly. I didn't want to think things had gotten that bad." There was a voice in the back of my head telling me the truth. Mostly I shut the voice up when I took down the bad guys.

"One night," I continue, "I was supposed to be out on patrol, but I had Katana cover for me. I wasn't feeling good. I was on my way to the kitchen when I passed a parlor that the door wasn't quite closed to. I would have ignored it, but I heard Dick say, 'You _need _to tell her.' He was supposed to be out on a case with Jason. That's when I heard Jason answer, 'I can't tell her. This would crush her.' Then someone sighed. Dick said, 'She's Ronnie. She'll forgive you as long as you tell her and work through this together.' I couldn't quite grasp what they were talking about. So, I stayed and kept listening.

"'This has been going on for two months, there's no way she'll take this well,' I heard Jason argue. Dick's answer shocked me the most. 'You've been cheating on her, Jason. Of course she won't take it well.'" I looked down at my hands which were shaking slightly. "Dick repeated, 'Tell her' more forcefully. There was a short pause before Jason said, 'Dick, stay out of my marriage.' He opened the door and was stunned to see me standing there. My eyes were watering.

"I demanded to know who she was. Jason didn't answer me. 'Who is she?' I repeat. Dick stepped forward. He was about to tell me who she was, but all he got out was my name before Jason turned around and punched him in the face. I yelled at Jason and took Dick to the kitchen to get him some ice for his face. As soon as he was fine, I packed a bag for me and a bag for Jensen and headed out with Jensen in my arms. Jason caught us right before I opened the front door. He asked me not to go and I gave him one last chance to tell me who she was, but he wouldn't tell me, so I left."

There was a slight relief over me. Tim is the first one I've told the whole story to. Everyone else just kind of _knew_.

"Did you ever find out who she was?" Tim asks.

I nod. "Nearly took her head off if Dick, Dinah, and Barbara hadn't held me back."

Tim raised his eyebrows. "It took all three of them to hold you back?"

I hold back a smile. "Another perk to Lazarus Pit DNA. Stronger muscles." I smirk. "That and anger was kind of a helpful fuel."

Tim takes my hand and laces his fingers through mine.

"I think you handled that very well. You're a strong woman, Ronnie – both physically and emotionally – Jensen is lucky to have you as a mom. And Jason was an idiot to let you go."

I look at Tim and smile. It's the first full smile that has been to my face for a long time. "Thank you, Tim."

"Guys, you need to come see this!" Dinah comes running out of the tower. I drop Tim's hand and stand up.

I step off of the ledge, "What's going on?"

"Someone hacked the main computer," Dinah answers. "And careful where you step, Barbara is pissed."


End file.
